In KIDS VS ALIENS, all Gary wants is to make awesome home movies with his best buds. All his older sister Samantha wants is to hang with the cool kids. When their parents head out of town one Halloween weekend, an all-time rager of a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing the siblings to band together to survive the night.

For in-depth thoughts on Kids Vs. Aliens, please see my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review from its original theatrical debut here.

Video Quality

Kids Vs. Aliens comes to Blu-Ray with an impressive AVC encoded 1080p transfer that brings this movie to life exactly as intended. Despite the modern time period, the cinematography features some vibrant pops of color that conjures a throwback ethos. The saturation throughout allows for deep hues that bring an immediacy to the picture. The picture is mostly clear with only brief instances of murkiness during a few of the darkest and most hectic moments.

While the film largely takes place on Halloween night, the transfer maintains an impressive level of detail both in the daytime sequences and nighttime exterior shots. Nearly every element from the smallest facial details to the texture of the goopy special effect is quite impressive. Skin tones are natural throughout with some strong details present in certain shots. RLJE Entertainment has done a rock solid job with this release.

Audio Quality

The film comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that brings the dynamic quality necessary for this story as it opens up this world sonically. One of the standout aspects is the soundtrack which comes through with a nice fidelity. Environmental effects play a substantial role in the film, and this track brings every element to life with great force. This track delivers a fleshed-out world full of unique sonic details.

Directionality is quite precise so sounds always present as natural when coming from their respective points. Dialogue comes through clearly without being overshadowed by any of the other sounds. Activity in the low end digs deep once the otherworldly invaders arrive. RLJE has delivered a formidable track that does everything that is asked of it. There are English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles for those who desire them.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director Jason Eisener provides a steady commentary track in which he discusses the real-life inspiration for this story, the shooting locations, the casting process, setting his films in the same universe, the special effects and more. There is nothing too surprising here, but it adds some nice context to the project that is appreciated.

Slime Time – The Making Of Kids Vs. Aliens: A really great 47-minute documentary on the making of this feature from the earliest idea to completion. You learn about how generous Eisener’s parents were to let the crew shoot in their home, creating the look of the film, the creation of the alien aesthetic and their layer, the training that went into some of the fights and more.

Storyboard Photo Gallery: A fun selection of artwork for the film is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Kids Vs. Aliens has a throwback sensibility to it that does not lean overly into obvious nostalgic replication like many properties the past decade or so. The story is not altogether revolutionary, but it proves to be a scrappy bit of sci-fi horror with bite. The characters are broad and occasionally saddled with clunky dialogue, but this invasion nightmare is entertaining for what it is aiming to do. RLJE Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a great A/V presentation and a nice array of special features. If you want to see some foul-mouthed children square off against some delightfully low-rent extraterrestrials, you will get what you signed up for with this one. Recommended

Kids Vs. Aliens is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.